Slidell man charged with aggravated assault after hitting another man with car

A Slidell man has been charged with aggravated second degree battery after hitting another man with a car after the man pulled a gun on him.

Norman Bickham Jr., 24, 111 Westchester Place, Apt. A5, also is charged with hit and run in connection with the Wednesday night incident, said Capt. Kevin Foltz, spokesman for the Slidell Police Department.

Edward J. Callahan, 21, 114 Hollow Rock Court in Slidell, who was in the car with Bickham when he hit the man, is charged with being a principal to a crime, possession of a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance and introduction of contraband into a penal institution.

The victim had been arguing with Bickham most of the day, according to a witness at the scene, in the 2800 block of College Street, Foltz said.

He pulled a gun on Bickham, who then fled the scene in his girlfriend's green 1995 Honda Accord.

The man followed the car, then the witness saw the man coming back down the street a short time later, bleeding and yelling for someone to call an ambulance.

Police arrived at the scene at 8:15 p.m. after receiving a call about a disturbance and found the man in the street, bleeding from his head and face, and possibly suffering from a broken leg, Foltz said.

The victim told the officers that a car hit him from behind, but that he couldn't identify the car or driver, he said.

Officers told Norman Bickham Sr., who was at the scene, that his son was wanted for questioning in reference to the hit and run, and that he should have his son come to the Police Department to speak to investigators if he made contact with his father.

While at the scene, the officers received a call from the vehicle's owner, who said Norman Bickham Jr. had borrowed her car earlier in the day, and he was with Callahan at the time, Foltz said.

Bickham returned the car with heavy damage at the front end, including damage to the windshield and a broken rearview mirror, and said he had hit a man after the man pulled a gun on him, he said.

The car was located in the parking lot at 111 Westchester Place.

Shortly thereafter, an officer saw two men, who fit the description of Bickham and Callahan, running toward a white van parked across the street from the damaged car.

The men entered the van, which then pulled onto Pontchartrain Drive heading south, Foltz said.

Officers stopped the van and found Bickham and Callahan inside, along with Norman Bickham Sr., who was driving the van, and a woman, Janie Williams, he said.

Norman Bickham Sr., 62, 1730 Horace St. in Algiers, and Williams, 54, same address, were arrested and charged with being an accessory to a crime after the fact.

All four were taken to the St. Tammany Parish jail, where officers found that Callahan had 3.6 grams of marijuana in his possession, Foltz said.

Norman Bickham Jr. and Callahan told investigators that they hit the man with the Honda Accord and then fled the scene, he said.

Investigators expect to file aggravated assault charges against the victim for pulling a gun on Norman Bickham Jr. after he is cleared to leave the hospital, Foltz said.